‘I couldn’t make my rent’ – Jennifer English and Aliona Baranova talk AI, video game performance, and fair pay
Jennifer English and Aliona Baranova chat AI, their career and what’s next for them
Jordan Middler
Baldur’s Gate 3 and Clair Obscur Expedition 33 stars Jennifer English and Aliona Baranova join VGC for a special episode of VGC: The Video Game Podcast.
In the episode, Jennifer English and Aliona Baranova chat about the last few years of their respective careers, the challenges facing the performance industry in the video game space, and their sense of responsibility as a publicly facing queer couple in games.
Jennifer and Aliona are best known for Baldur’s Gate 3, in which Jennifer played Shadowheart, and Aliona was a performance director. Both also appeared in 2025’s Clair Obscur Expedition 33.
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VGC: The Video Games Podcast episodes are available weekly, hosted by VGC’s Jordan Middler, Chris Scullion and Andy Robinson, and broadcaster Pete Donaldson, featuring regular special guests from across the games industry.
You can subscribe to VGC: A Video Games Podcast now on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music and more.
